The present invention is directed to bicycles and, more particularly, to bicycle devices that may be controlled at least in part by lighting conditions.
Bicycle computers often have an LCD display, for example, for displaying various types of information to the rider. Such information may include time, the bicycle speed, running distances, cadence (crank RPM), the gearshift position, and other information related to running conditions. Bicycle-mounted gearshift systems, and automatic gearshift systems in particular, comprise running condition detecting means for detecting the running condition of the bicycle, a gearshift apparatus, and gearshift control means for upshifting and downshifting the gearshift apparatus in accordance with the running condition of the bicycle.
Because the surrounding brightness differs between daytime and nighttime, there are cases when it is convenient to have the display and running conditions differ when riding the bicycle at these times. For example, at night it is more difficult to view the display and operate the bicycle even with a front headlight switched on. The desired information displayed in the morning and in the evening also may differ. However, there are only a few known systems that change the display and running conditions in conjunction with such surrounding conditions, and these systems are limited to changing the ON/OFF state of the front headlight in accordance with the illumination. As a result, advantageous display and running conditions cannot be provided in conjunction with the surrounding conditions.